| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A- |
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| Acting: |
B+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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| Visuals: |
A |
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Buckle up, this ride has no mercy!
by Yahoo! Movies User (movies profile)
Dec 25, 2006
11
of
11 people found this review helpful
Let me tell you, I will NEVER look at a rollercoaster the same way again. Or an exercise machine. I'll be a little wary around nail guns, too. Be extra-careful around tanning beds. Oh, and board subways at your own risk.
The opening scene of this movie was fantastic. I actually got the same feeling watching them board the coaster that I get when actually climbing into them myself. My heart began to beat fast, my heart seemed to levitate into my throat, helping me realize that my throat could not have been any drier. The coaster's ascent to the top of the initial hill was extremely prolonged; not in an annoying way, but in a way that made the scene all the more effective. All it takes is a video camera's painful fall to the bottom of the coaster's loop to ensure the ending the lives of a varied group of strikingly attractive teenage rollercoaster fanatics.
The most frightening part of the rollercoaster disaster was when the harnesses on the coaster first came up. I cannot imagine how terrifying that would be. The actors in this sequence did a fantastic job in portraying this horror. It did not take much longer before you see the seemingly innocent high schoolers getting hurled out of the coaster and plunging towards imminent death that Death had reserved for them. Not much longer, every single participant on the ride was dead as a doornail.
Wait, it didn't happen yet! The last girl to die on the ride, Wendy Christensen, a generically likeable girl with an odd haircut that progressively grew on me throughout the film saw the whole disaster in her head. A premonition, she called it. This is where the movie becomes incredibly similar to the two before it. Not neccassarily a bad thing, but I was hoping for a little twist, maybe.
To make a long story short, Death was not happy with Wendy. Oh, not with Kevin Fischer, the generically likeable jock that suprised you with the occasional intellectual insight, either. Wendy, being the photographer for the high school yearbook, had pictures of the would-be rollercoaster victims, each of them holding a 'clue' regarding their future, and very imminent death.
Let's see... Ashley and Ashlyn were the first to bite it. Their death scene was easily the best, and most commercialized one. I mean, these girls suffered. Note to self, don't go to a tanning salon anytime soon.
Frankie Cheeks was the perverted, sickening character that you could tell the whole theater was waiting for to die. Sure enough, a few sexual comments and middle fingers later, he met his match with an whirling engine blade from Kevin's car.
Next, Death had the pleasure of dealing with Lewis; a dude who actually thought that Death would be afraid of him. Death retaliated by sending hundred-something pound weights down to give his head (or soon lack thereof) a little hint.
The next death actually upset me a little. I didn't really want to see the appealing, brainy emo couple, Erin and Ian die. I actually kind of liked them. Unfortunatley, Death didn't. Wendy and Kevin thought they saved Ian from some falling fence posts at the home improvement store, and right before they started celebrating, a poorly-placed nail gun relocated its nails in Erin's head. That scene went on far too long, and I wanted Erin to just die after on nail, but it took about 12 more nails to do it. It was painful to watch.
Next, Wendy had to save her sister, Julie, almost killing Kevin, actually killing Julie's friend, Perry, who was the next to die after Erin, who was the girlfriend of Ian, who wanted to kill Wendy, who was still with Kevin and Julie, who were both just saved by Wendy. All of this confusion ends when Ian is hit by a giant billboard, crushing him just like a fly getting whacked with a flyswatter.
Ahh... 5 months later. Everything must be back to normal, now... right? Don't get your hopes up. Also, don't get your hopes up about getting any decent closure to this movie. I won't ruin it for you, but you will not be disappointed. It will differ if you have an optimistic or pessimistic opinion of the characters. The ending is dependant on the condition that you have any sympathy for them, or if you have any level of admiration for Death. |
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